beggar

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beggar

Illness or some physical disability such as blindness and lameness made it impossible to earn a living; recourse to people's
charity was the only way of surviving. There are numerous accounts of beggars in the gospels and Acts (e.g. Mark 10: 46–52; Acts 3: 10); the only named character in a parable is the beggar Lazarus in Luke 16: 19–30. Disinterested charity (Matt. 6: 3) would have seemed extraordinary in the Graeco-Roman world (see poor)—but it is commanded by Jesus, especially as recorded in the gospel of Luke (e.g. 12: 33; 18: 22).